Innovation
by Ibbonray
Summary: Though the hunger is gone, the games go on... What would happen if all the characters in the Hunger Games were in high school together? AU STORY BASED ON THE HUNGER GAMES. Ages have been changed so almost everyone is involved in Panem High in some way. There will be some romance including Glato, Clato, Marvel/Marina, Foxface/Thresh, Katniss/Peeta, Madge/Gale, & Finnick/Annie.
1. Chapter 1

Clove scowled. So _this_ was her new room. A cramped, cluttered space with _pink _walls? This was not what her father had promised.

She dumped her pack on the bed, which took up most of the room. She would have to perform a complete remodeling of the area. First, the walls would have to be painted black, then the picture of a smiling teddy bear removed. The carpet would have to be ripped out—she preferred hard wood. The lights needed to be changed to LED because Clove liked to be as energy-efficient as possible. The window curtains could be sold to a second-hand store, and finally… Clove needed to move her stuff in.

She sighed. Sure, maybe she had zero friends at her old school, but moving was practically pointless. Her dad had had a paying job, but he thought maybe it would be better to be close to her family now that her mother had died. Clove had a slight suspicion it was because Panem City was well known for its infinite amount of bars and liquor stores.

The old teenagers she hung out with—they were alcohol-drinkers too. She was surrounded by the stuff day and night. It was sort of surprising that she never broke and became an alcoholic herself.

Her dad had asked Clove's grandparents for money for a house, but they refused. Clove respected that they were wise enough to not oblige. Most of that money would have been spent on vodka, anyway.

So they had to make do with this tiny three-room apartment. It wasn't that bad, actually, but if she didn't get this place renovated Clove was going to have a mental breakdown.

Her father swaggered in. "Place good enough for you?" He slurred.

"Give me five hundred, and maybe it will be," she muttered.

"You gotta earn it yourself, punk," he said, cuffing Clove's shoulder, then disappeared to the other room.

Clove rolled her eyes. She supposed she could get a job, but not until she was used to this city—which would probably be never.

Sighing, she started unpacking.

* * *

Katniss leapt out of bed at the sound of her alarm clock. The last day of summer break. This was a day to enjoy.

She skipped to the bathroom and took a quick shower, then chose her most comfortable clothes—a red t-shirt and denim jeans that were cuffed to mid-shin. She blow-dried her hair and French braided it to the side, brushed her teeth, and completely ignored her make-up, because today was the day that was meant to be _fun._

She sprinted down the stairs to the kitchen, where her father was busy making bacon. "How's my little fire-girl?" He said, giving Katniss a side-hug, referring to her fiery temper that was absent on a perfect day like this one. The sun was just peeking out from the horizon, but the air just had this magical feel to it.

"Fine, Father." Katniss popped a slice of bread into the toaster.

"Ready for school tomorrow?"

"Of course not." Her father had dark hair and gray eyes like her, with the same olive skin, but the resemblance didn't stop there. They both had a passion for archery, and went to the strawberry patch (which was just outside of the city) often. Mr. Everdeen also had a license for hunting, so every once and a while they would go out near the strawberry patch and shoot rabbits.

"Neither am I."

Her father was also the choir teacher at Panem High, which was a little awkward to Katniss, but most of her friends found it cool. Katniss did like to sing sometimes but not enough that she was enrolled in choir class, which would be torture.

He practically read her mind. "You should have enrolled in choir, I'm sure you would have loved it."

Katniss blushed and was spared the need to respond when the toaster dinged, emitting her slice of toast.

She grabbed the toast and ran out the door, grabbing her purse on her way out. "Bye, Father!" She called.

"Don't you want some bacon, or maybe a little jam on that toast?"

"Nope!" By that time, she was across the street, wondering what to do next. She pulled her phone out of her purse and dialed up Annie.

"Annie, oh An-nie!" Katniss called into the phone.

"Katniss, it is _six-thirty._ Why did you have to call me _now_?" Annie groaned, letting out a yawn.

"Because it is the last day of vacation, Ann," Katniss reminded her.

"Okay, okay, I'm up!" Annie said. "Come on over, and I'll make us coffee."

"I don't drink coffee."

"Tea, hot chocolate, whatever. Bye, Kat." She hung up.

Katniss grinned, crossing the street, on her way to Annie's house. This was going to be a great day; she could feel it.

* * *

Thresh's alarm clock beeped. He opened one eye, glanced at it, and then smashed his fist down on the off button.

The amount of times Thresh had hit that button with all his strength probably should have broken the clock a long time ago, but surprisingly, it held up; and Thresh respected the alarm clock for it's continuous withstanding of his brute force—he would be a little disappointed when it finally broke.

He changed into a black t-shirt and light brown shorts, and bounded down the stairs. His grandmother, always the early riser, smiled at him from the table, and patted the seat beside her.

"Hello, Thresh."

"Hello, Grandmother. You're up early."

"As are you. But you young ones have cause to enjoy yourselves before school starts, while I just love to see the sun rise!" She laughed.

"It's pretty," he admitted, looking at the pink and orange rays of light.

"What are you doing today, Thresh?" She asked him, breaking a long stretch of content silence.

He shrugged. He didn't have many friends. Thresh was alone most of the time—but he liked it that way.

"You need a few friends," she continued. "You're strong, and clever, and a nice young boy. I'm sure everyone would like you if you tried."

Grandmother was going into another one of her rants, which Thresh wasn't completely happy about. He shrugged again. "I suppose I could go to the beach with Rue," he offered up.

She just shook her head. "You and that cousin of yours spend so much time together, I am surprised she finds any time to hang out with her friends. Go on; invite her, if you must. But I will find you some good boys your own age to get to know if it's the last thing I ever do!"

Thresh threw his Grandmother one of his rare smiles, and helped himself to a bowl of cereal. This was going to be a nice day. He liked hanging out with Rue—she was fun to be around, and an infinitely better person than any senior at Panem High. To imagine going to the beach with Cato and Gloss… unheard of!

* * *

Glimmer let one last perfect curl fall onto her back, unplugged her curling iron, and put a generous amount of hairspray into her freshly styled hair. One last day before her senior year of high school, and one last full day with Cato for an entire five days!

She plucked her eyebrows, applied eyeliner and mascara, and touched up her lips with one of her many bottles of lipstick. Then, flashing a dazzling smile at the mirror, she decided she was ready.

Rushing down the stairs, she grabbed her purse and slipped into her dark, strappy black heels. Glimmer struck a couple poses in the hallway mirror, glad to see that she was as sexy as ever.

Glimmer reached into her purse and took out her phone. A text message was flashing on the screen, from Cato.

_ Be there in a minute, beautiful._

_Oh, that's so cheesy of you,_ Glimmer replied back. She had to admit, though, she loved the constant attention he always gave her.

_I can't help myself, Glim. Look out your window._

She did, and Cato smiled at her from his red convertible. Glimmer's heart leapt and she flung the door open, running down the drive as fast as her black heels would let her.

"Hi, Cato!" She smiled at him.

"Hell-o, Glim," he said, pulling her down for a kiss. Glimmer tilted her head back and sighed, loving the feel of his lips on hers.

A couple minutes later, she pulled away. "Shouldn't we be on the road now?" She joked. Cato nodded, taking a drag from his cigarette. Glimmer had considered asking him to break his smoking habit, but decided against it. Cato looked so _cute_ when he smoked!

"Where to?" He asked, starting the motor.

"I've got just the place," Glimmer winked, and gave him one more kiss before they pulled out of her driveway.

This day couldn't have started off any better.

* * *

Finch woke up around seven thirty, instantly calculating what she would do today. First, she would get ready and eat breakfast, which would take fifteen minutes. Then, an hour of free time, before tutoring sessions commenced.

Sometimes Finch wished she hadn't signed up to tutor the kids who were failing at their classes, but she supposed it was a good way to spend her time. She was practically friendless, considering the fact that she was light years ahead of the average intelligence and practically all of Panem High was average intelligence or below.

And then, after tutoring, she had lunch, then an entire afternoon and evening of leisurely activities. Finch could read, or maybe edit that extra credit paper that her English teacher had assigned for over the summer—as if she hadn't edited it thirty-six times already. She could go for a jog along the beach, maybe.

Finch sat up, stretched, and then got ready for the day. She tied her long red hair into pigtails and threw on the closest clothes she could find, which were running shorts and a baggy t-shirt.

She stopped by her kitchen as she headed out the door, grabbing an apple from the bowl set on the table. Not an example of good nutrition, but she would have a better lunch. Hastily grabbing a Sticky Note and a pen, she wrote a note to her mother: _Going for a run, then to tutoring. See you in the afternoon. –F_

The sun was up, and the sky a clear blue. The beach would be a perfect place to run this morning. Finch loved the calming, rhythmic sound of the waves as they crashed onto the boulders that were located on either side of a wide expanse of sand.

When she got there, Finch was out of breath. She sat on a boulder and re-did her pigtails, gazing at the small amount of people who liked to get to the beach early in the mornings.

Then she spied two people that fascinated her instantly. A large boy, more like a man, really, and a girl who looked about six or seven years younger were laughing and swimming in the surf. Finch instantly pinpointed the boy as one from her grade—Thresh. Thresh was sort of a loner, too. And the dark-skinned girl… she might've been related to him in some way. His sister? No. Their height difference is so great they cannot be siblings. Maybe she was Thresh's cousin, then.

For a second, Finch wanted to go join them, but shook her head at herself. No. Neither of them knew her, and she wasn't about to soak her clothes.

She stared at them a while longer. The boy—Thresh—he didn't speak at school much. Not last year, anyway. Didn't even smile. He wasn't the type to be friends with Marvel or Peeta, and _definitely_ not Cato. No, it just seemed fitting that he would spend time with this little girl, who seems to make him laugh more in a day then he would in a year at Panem High.

Finch pushed herself up off the boulder, and then jogged across the beach, in the direction of Panem High, which was about half a mile away. Marvel. Why did she have to tutor Marvel? Though, she supposed, if Cato was academically challenged, he would be much worse.

* * *

The first thing Peeta did when he woke up was call Marvel.

"Hey, Marvel!" He said, yawning.

"Hey, man. Is it just me, or do you sound like you just rolled out of bed?"

"Figuratively, yes," Peeta smiled. "So, last day of summer vacation."

"Yup. Got tutoring with Miss Intelligent today," Marvel said with an exasperated tone of voice. "So can't hang out 'til afternoon."

"Don't worry, I've got plenty of bread to make until then," Peeta replied. His father owned the bakery and almost every morning his mother woke him up with a slap to the cheek, shouting, "Up, up, up, baking time!" Surprisingly, she hadn't today.

Marvel laughed on the other end of the line. "Can't be as bad as Fox-Girl."

Peeta secretly thought Finch wasn't that bad. Sure, she was intelligent and had bright red hair, but did that really make her qualify for the nickname Fox-Girl? Marvel was the one who made it up, anyway, having been jealous of her smarts for as long as Peeta could remember—though Marvel would never admit it.

"Maybe you wouldn't hate her as much if you actually _tried_ during your tutoring sessions. I don't want you failing senior year, man."

"I'll only fail senior year if I'm stuck with her as a 'teacher'. Anyway, I got to go, see you in the afternoon," Marvel sighed.

"See ya, Marvel," Peeta replied, and hung up.

Stretching, he glanced out his window. The sun was already up, and the sky was a clear blue. He wondered what Katniss was up to, but pushed her from his mind. She would never hang out with him, much less date him. The most acknowledgement she'd ever given him was a complement for his bread. He supposed his forever-long crush would let up someday, but in the meantime, all he could do was wait and enjoy life with Marvel, Finnick, and Marina.

Peeta dressed in shorts and a blue t-shirt, and then tied his apron around himself. Trudging down the stairs to the bakery part of his house, he turned to the kitchen, where his mother was busy kneading bread dough.

"Son, start the cookies for me," she said gruffly, and Peeta obeyed, getting out the flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, butter, and a bag of chocolate chips.

"Thank you for letting me sleep in," Peeta ventured.

His mother just snapped, "You need to make the exact same amount of goodies that you make every day, so you better hurry up."

* * *

Rue laughed and called out to Thresh, "Race you!"

"It's on!" Her cousin replied. "Let's see if you can beat me this time!"

They had been out at the beach for about an hour. Even if tackling each other in the water was childish, Rue didn't care—she felt like she deserved some fun before she started her first year of high school. Thresh was the only person who really understood her, too, so what would be better than to spend her last free day with him?

"On three," Rue said. "One, two, THREE!"

They took off, swimming as fast as they could, each trying to get to the shore first. Thresh always won, but Rue relished the day when she would beat him—that's the reason why she'd been practicing all summer long.

Rue kicked her legs and propelled herself through the salt water as fast as she could. After about forty-five seconds, she touched sand and ran out of the water, gasping for air and shouting, "I won! I won!"

She waited with her eyes closed for Thresh to deny her and say, "Not this time, little Rue," but he didn't, so she turned around and looked out to the ocean.

Rue _had_ beat Thresh! He was standing a couple yards from the shore, but he wasn't looking at Rue, he was looking at somebody else.

That somebody else was a tall, lithe girl with bright red hair in two pigtails. Rue watched as she stood up from the boulder she was sitting on and ran down the length of the beach, as quick as a flash. As soon as Rue spotted her, it seemed like the red-haired girl was gone.

Rue walked up to Thresh and splashed him in the face. "Earth to Thresh! Finally found somebody else worthy of your attention?"

Thresh stared at her and shook his head. "Just a girl in my grade," he muttered.

Rue laughed and knew that if Thresh didn't have dark skin, he would be blushing right now. "Looks like Thresh finally likes a girl!" She teased.

Thresh's expression turned murderous. "Say that again, little Rue, and you're going down!"

Rue just raised her eyebrows. Then Thresh picked her up, screaming and shouting, and threw her into the surf, jumping in after her.

They both surfaced laughing their heads off, and Rue tackled Thresh. "I beat you at a race!" She teased some more, and he dunked her.

Another hour later, they pulled themselves onto the beach and dried off. Rue had plenty of good friends, but none of them were as great as Thresh. She wished they got to see each other more, because last year she was at the middle school and Thresh at the high school and they never ran into each other. Maybe this year was going to be a change.

And maybe this year Thresh would finally get himself a girlfriend. Rue knew it would be good for him, because he was pretty much a loner.

Smiling to herself, Rue gathered up her towel and she and Thresh made their way home.

* * *

Marvel frowned as he walked up the steps to Panem High. Why did they have to have tutoring on the last day of summer? Marvel would do anything to have an excuse to skip. He just couldn't stand to see Fox-Girl's face today.

But there she was, sitting stock-still with her hands folded in her lap and her face as mysterious-looking as a fox's.

Marvel banged through the doors to the English room, trying to make Finch jump, but she didn't move a muscle as she said, "You are a minute and six seconds late."

"Whatever," Marvel said, plopping into the chair facing her. Then he realized something was missing. "Hey, where are the books?"

"Since you have copies, I decided that maybe today you'd be responsible and bring them yourself. I guess I was incorrect," she said coolly.

"So what are we going to do today, Fox-Girl? Sit around and do nothing?" Marvel said in a hopeful tone.

"We improvise," Finch suggested. "What have you been reading lately?"

Marvel swore silently, and then replied, "Nothing."

Finch looked pissed. "What have you been _doing_ lately?"

"None of your business!"

"If you want to pass twelfth grade, it is my business!"

"Fine," Marvel sulked. "Hanging out with my friends, going to the beach, watching TV…"

"Watching what on TV?" Finch prodded, taking out a piece of blank notebook paper and a pen from her binder. Marvel thought for a while, and then told Finch the most vague answer possible.

"Movies."

Finch fixed him with a glare.

"Fine, fine! I watched _Coming to America_ last night, happy now?"

His tutor rolled her eyes and wrote something down on the paper, and gave it to Marvel, saying, "Find the prepositional phrase."

Marvel stared at the paper; with the words _Akeem is the prince of Zamunda _written in Fox-Girl's perfect handwriting. He scowled.

"We did prepositional phrases in seventh grade!"

Finch smirked and said, "If I remember correctly, you almost failed seventh grade."

Marvel was panicking now. He didn't know prepositional phrases very well, and no matter how many times somebody would teach him, they just didn't stick in his head. Marvel knew that if he failed senior year, he would have to take it again and his chances of getting into college would decrease dramatically, but he just couldn't get the hang of being academic!

He stared at the sentence. _Akeem is the prince of Zamunda. Akeem is the prince of Zamunda. Akeem is the prince of Zamunda._

Finch glanced at him expectantly, but all he could do was shrug his shoulders.

"Come on, Marvel, you need to at least _try_ to learn this!" Finch yelled, then visibly composed herself. Marvel put his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry, I do try, I _do,_ and it just doesn't stick!" He admitted.

She looked at him, as if determining if what he said was true. Finally, she relaxed.

"Let me see," she said, handing Marvel her pen. "How do I make this easier? We'll start with the basics, and then work our way up. Put a filled-in triangle above each of the nouns."

Marvel glanced at the sentence again. _Akeem is the prince of Zamunda._ He thought for a while, and then put three black triangles above Akeem, prince, and Zamunda.

For the first time ever, he saw Finch smile. She had a nice smile, he realized. Maybe Marvel shouldn't have been so hard on her.

"Good. Now put a circle above the verb."

"Is the word 'is' the verb?"

Finch nodded, and he put a circle above the word 'is'.

"So, if I told you that the words 'the', 'an', and 'a' aren't anything, which word is the preposition?"

Marvel glanced at the paper. It would be of, of course! He never remembered it being this easy before. He threw Finch one of his wide, dazzling grins and put a crescent mark above the word 'of'.

Finch reached over and put parenthesis around the words 'of Zamunda'. "This is a prepositional phrase. The parentheses always go right before the preposition, and right after the noun."

Marvel stared at the complete sentence. Easy. This was easy. And when Finch gave him more sentences to label, Marvel let himself think, _maybe I won't fail senior year after all._

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Hunger Games characters**

**Okay, that is Chapter One! I really wanted to write a high school AU for the Hunger Games, so I did. I'll update every once and a while, but not a ton because I am super busy and have my other story to update as well.**

_**Coming to America**_** is a movie I watched the other night, and since I picture Marvel as having a funny personality, I thought that this would be a good movie for him to watch. Pretty much it's about this prince who comes to America to search for his future bride, and since he dislikes having a ton of money, he decides to live in a tiny run-down apartment/hotel place and works in a fast food restaurant. I recommend it to everyone!**

**Hate it? Love it? Reviews, please! Thanks, guys!**

**-Ibbonray**


	2. Chapter 2

"He has no interest in me."

"Yes he does! He looks at you the same way that Gale does."

"But Gale never was the right one. We're great being best friends."

"I understand. He wasn't the right person for you—and now he's dating me! But he's not over you, Katniss, and Peeta looks at you the _exact same way!_"

"Nope. Sorry to disappoint you, but we've only talked once, and that was about bread."

"Bread's a start, right? I've talked to the boy, he blushes every time I mention your name!"

"I don't believe you."

Madge had been arguing with Katniss for a couple minutes now, each girl on their end of a black couch with their arms crossed. Madge couldn't believe how _blind_ Katniss was. Maybe Katniss and Gale together hadn't exactly worked out, but that didn't mean that her friend was un-likable. The breakup had clearly gone to Katniss' head.

Annie sat in an adjacent couch, clearly caught in the middle, head tilting from side to side as she watched the two girls argue. Madge felt sort of bad for her until she joined in.

"Come on, Kat, don't act like no boy's ever going to like you, because if you think that way, no boy _ever_ will. Finnick and I turned out just fine, right?"

Katniss nodded and Madge gestured to Annie as if to prove her point.

"Let's just talk about something else," Katniss suggested, sighing. The rest of the trio nodded.

"So, everybody excited for school?" Annie asked.

"Nope," Madge and Katniss answered. "But," Madge smiled, "maybe I will if we get a snack!"

She rushed to Annie's kitchen and dug through the fridge. Annie had invited her over this morning, and it was probably time she should be getting home, but Madge just didn't want to leave Annie's perfect home. With it's deep blue walls, dark furniture and light blue and white decorations, it reminded Madge of the ocean.

"Aha!" She pulled out a tub of strawberries. Entering the living room again, she set the tub on the coffee table. "Strawberries, courtesy of the _wonderful_ Katniss Everdeen!"

They each plucked out one of the ripe berries and started talking again.

"Who do you think you'll have in your classes?"

"No idea. I'm hoping for Finnick, though," Annie winked.

"Of course, Ann, you _always_ say that," Madge rolled her eyes.

"Think I'll get sewing class with Cinna?"

Madge looked at Katniss curiously. "I didn't know you had a passion for sewing, Kat."

"Well, I… I don't have many talents, and I thought maybe sewing… because, you know…?" Katniss stuttered.

Annie laughed. "Cinna's the hottest teacher in the entire school, we all know."

"No! No! It's not that!" Madge's friend blushed bright red. "I just think it would be fun designing dresses and other clothes."

"You have a point," Madge said.

They continued like this until finally, it was dinnertime, and Madge had to leave to her home. She disliked her home, partly because her father was the mayor of Panem City and always talked to her in the regal, sharp tone of voice that he used when with his peers, forgetting that she was his daughter, sometimes. Also, her mother was in her bedroom often, moaning because of the constant migraines she got, which had been occurring since her twin sister Maysilee died of cancer.

Madge hated being so alone. And tonight was the night that she just couldn't bear it, so she decided to see Haymitch.

Maybe tonight he wouldn't be so drunk.

* * *

Prim swung higher and higher on the swing, finally letting go at the peak of the arc. For a second, she was flying, flying, and then her feet touched the ground.

"Go any higher and you're going to break your leg!" Rory laughed as he let go from his swing.

"Like I could go any higher!" Prim giggled, watching Rory soar through the air. They had been best friends and neighbors for a little over a decade, and they never did anything without the other, practically. Rory had wanted to do something sophisticated today, because tomorrow was their first day of high school… but Prim had wanted to do something childish, so they had agreed that the park was the best place to talk like regular teens, while doing something fun.

"So, school tomorrow," Rory said, solemnly, as they both sat cross-legged on the wood chips.

"I'm excited, are you?"

"There are so many people…" Rory looked worried.

"What's the matter, Roar?" Prim asked, using his old nickname.

"I want to stay friends with you forever, Primrose. I don't want you forgetting I exist so you can hang out with some popular girl."

Prim scoffed. Like she would _ever_ do that. "I promise I won't, unless there is a popular girl who is super nice and I _want_ to be friends with."

She watched Rory think for a little bit, until he said, "Fine, but only if they're nice to _everyone,_ not just you."

"It's a deal," Prim smiled, holding out her hand, and they shook on it.

They watched as younger kids passed by, sliding down slides with their mothers, and Prim remembered when she used to come here with her father. Of course, she was too old for that now. And her parents were much too busy, with teaching and running Panem City's one and only medical supply shop.

"Do you ever wish you were little again?" Prim asked.

"No, do you?"

"Yes," she sighed. "I've heard so many bad things about high school that I wish I was starting elementary school again."

"Don't worry," Rory put a protective arm around her shoulder. "I'll protect you."

Prim laughed. "We can protect each other. Come on, we're missing out on swing time!"

They hopped back on the swings, pumped their legs, and then Rory Hawthorne and Primrose Everdeen were flying through the air, like two birds having their first taste of freedom.

* * *

Marina swam away from Marvel, angry. "I _told_ you not to push me!" She frowned when her head broke the surface.

"Couldn't help it, Rina," he said, smiling and nudging Peeta. "You said you didn't want to get wet, but you were in your swimming suit!"

Last time she had come to the beach and wasn't in the mood to get wet, he had taken her onto the dock and shoved her in to the water, _with her regular clothes on._ Of course, Marina had come prepared this time.

She wagged her finger at him, then tied her wet hair in a messy bun and swam over to the dock. She loved to swim, but sometimes she just didn't feel like getting wet. Of course, that all changed when somebody actually pushed her into the water.

"Come on, Marvel, help me up," she said, sticking her hand out to him. He took it with a smirk on his mischievous face, and Marina pulled him in after her.

Marvel came up spluttering and laughing. "See, I knew what you were going to do."

Peeta, who was still on the dock, tested the water with his toe. "You shouldn't have done it, man, this water is freezing," he said.

Marina took one glance at Peeta's foot, dived underwater, and grabbed hold of it, therefore pulling Peeta in. She resurfaced, grinning, and told Peeta, "Bet you didn't expect that one."

They were best friends: Marvel, Marina, Peeta, and Finnick (though he hadn't been able to come to the beach that day). It was something about how much they all loved to laugh, all the time, which brought them together. It didn't matter if Peeta was baker boy and Marvel almost failed junior year and Finnick was the hottest boy in the grade and Marina was… well… very different, as Marina liked to describe herself—they just clicked, as all best friends should.

Peeta shook his wet blonde hair out of his eyes. "Nope."

"How was tutoring?" Marina turned to Marvel, kicking off the dock and heading out into the open water.

"Oh, the usual. Fox-Girl was precise as ever, we studied out of the books, and she said that I would most definitely fail twelfth grade…" Marvel trailed off, but Marina and Peeta could tell he was lying.

"Cough it up, Marv," Peeta said.

"You got me," he said, hands up. "I actually learned something today, believe it or not. Because we both forgot to bring the books."

Marina cocked her head at Marvel. He wasn't one to pay attention to his studies, and now… he looked actually _happy_ about academics. "I doubt Finch forgot to bring the books," she said.

"Okay, okay! _I_ forgot to bring my books and _she_ decided that it was from now on my responsibility to bring them, so she just gave me a bunch of made-up sentences so I could learn presotional phases or whatever they're called."

She watched as Marvel flushed in pride, and Peeta snorted. "Prepositional phrases? We learned those in, like, _seventh grade._"

Marina shot him a look as Marvel said, "Hey, I never understood them, and now I do. Give me a little slack, Peeta."

"Okay, I will, as long as I don't have to cut you any slack now."

"Wha…?"

Peeta flew through the water and tackled Marvel, and Marina observed them as they sunk into the water. Laughing, she dived down too, tempted to scare them when they reached the surface.

Sure enough, the two figures stood up again and she heard distant voices through the clear salt water; "Rina? Rina!"

"She's just going to scare us, man."

Marina was champion at holding her breath on the swim team, and stayed under for about a full minute before the boys sounded worried again.

"This is not funny, Marina!" Marvel shouted, using her real name instead of a nickname.

"Do you think she drowned?"

"No, she wouldn't. _Marina!"_

She waited a few more seconds, and then grabbed each of their ankles.

Popping out of the water and taking a deep breath of fresh air, she laughed. The looks on the two boys' faces were priceless.

"Don't _ever_ do that again," Peeta said, clutching his chest as he treaded water.

"I'm like Marvel," Marina replied. "I just can't help myself."

She loved having friends like them. They were so easily scared.

Laughing, Marina dove into the water and swam like a torpedo, feeling the water slide past her effortlessly.

* * *

Cato kissed Glimmer's throat as she trailed her hands up and down his spine. This was what life was supposed to be about. Being with a content, perfect girl who loved him as much as he loved her.

Finally, after a long, lingering kiss on her lips, he got up and slid his shirt back on. He was finished, for now. They'd been parked out here in the complete wilderness for hours, and his mother would worry, since he hadn't left her any note.

Not that Cato cared. He had been sort of breaking his mother's numerous rules for a long, long time, what with the smoking habit he had acquired in sophomore year and having so many girlfriends he couldn't count them on his fingers if he had two extra hands.

His mother's exact words: _Wait and find a girl that you love. Don't use them as… tools for your own pleasure. _

And Cato hadn't! He didn't use them… not really. They gave themselves up, every one of them_. _Almost every girl in his grade had had a slight crush on him at one point, except for maybe Fox-Girl, Marina, and Delly Cartwright. He couldn't help that he had killer looks.

The only rule he'd ever directly broke was the one about finding the girl that he loved. Cato didn't love anybody. He was that kind of guy who knew that 'love' was nothing but a stupid emotion that made you weak. And as long as he was on the football team, he couldn't make himself weak.

Glimmer was different than everyone else. She was _better_ than everyone else. Maybe this was going to be the closest Cato would ever come to 'love'.

She whined as he pulled away, but Cato had had enough. "Pleeeeease, Cay-Cay? I love you, and I could stay with you like this _forever._"

"I love you, too, Glim," he said in a low, melodic tone that he knew she would faint for. He didn't mean the _I love you._ He wouldn't ever mean it, really. Because Cato was incapable of loving anybody, since his dad abused him as a kid.

_"You're a idiotic, dumb-ass, son-of-a-(curse word). I can't believe I ever gave birth to you, _son._"_

_ His father punched him in the nose, and Cato felt the bone crack. He whimpered and kept quiet._

_ "Your mother? She can't save you now. She's as good as dead."_

_ "Stop it!" Cato was six, and knew that most of the time, telling somebody 'stop it' would work, but it didn't this time. His father slapped him on the cheek, hard._

_ "You're weak, boy. Toughen up. If you're going to get anywhere in the world, you cannot have mercy. Love, trust, they will get you nowhere."_

_ Cato had just nodded as his father pulled out a pistol and pointed it at his only son._

_ "You loved me, didn't you? Look where it got you, boy! Look where it got your mother! No one can ever love me. Damn the world to hell, Cato. It tells people that love is possible, when it never works out. Listen to me. Look into my eyes," his father whispered, pointing the gun at his own forehead._

_ "Don't ever, _ever,_ love, Cato. It will be the end of you."_

_ And the man he never truly knew pulled the trigger._

Cato shrugged this memory off and started up the red convertible.

"I've got to get you home, Glim, your 'rents would wonder. Get dressed," he ordered her.

She batted her eyelashes, but the effect didn't work like it normally did. Maybe if the memory hadn't popped up, the memory that haunted his dreams…

Cato lit a cigarette. The smoke automatically made his mind fuzzy. There. Perfect. No more memories for a couple more hours.

He waited until Glimmer pulled her shirt on, adjusted her hair, and reapplied her makeup, until he pulled back onto the highway, heading back to Panem City.

* * *

Finnick's mother was on a cleaning frenzy… again.

When this happened, Finnick usually rushed out of the house, making up excuses, but she caught him before he could vanish. Then she gave him the longest shopping list in the world and sent him off to get the items in less than an hour.

So Finnick had, but now, he cursed himself for his poor choice of stores.

"Finnick," Johanna nodded to him from where she was standing by the axes. Yes, the _axes._ Mockingjay's was a store that had everything, and when Finnick said everything, he meant _everything._

Johanna, his old girlfriend, had a passion for splitting trees. He would not be surprised if she was part of some lumber company some day. And it looked like she had broken yet another axe.

"Johanna," Finnick nodded in return.

"What brings you here?"

"My mother is on a cleaning frenzy, sent me here for supplies. You?" Of course, Finnick already knew, but it was the polite thing to ask.

His old girlfriend was not known for being polite. "If you don't know why I'm buying an axe, I might just have to chop off your perfect head," she growled.

Finnick laughed and touched his unruly bronze hair. "Wouldn't want that," he joked.

Johanna narrowed her eyes at him. "Your girlfriend would be devastated. How long is she going to last, anyway?"

This touched a nerve, because Finnick dumped girls almost as fast as Cato did—except Cato never seemed to settle, the jerk. Finnick had been dating Annie a year now and was perfectly happy where they stood.

"Shut up, Johanna."

"It's been a year, hasn't it? Funny how heartbreak never gets old," she muttered, picking up an axe from where it hung on the rack, tossing it from side to side. "Hmm, too light."

"Get over it, J! Cashmere dumped me and I got over it in a day."

"But you just liked her for her looks, while I like your sarcastic comments," Johanna said, picking up another axe and brandishing it at him. Finnick didn't even bother to back away, since he knew Johanna wasn't _that_ mentally disabled.

"Yeah, right," Finnick said.

"See? Exactly my point—sarcastic comments are our specialties." She lifted the heaviest axe on the rack and tested it on a nearby pole. "Damn it, still too light. I guess it'll do."

"You'll find the heavier axes at Tracker Jacker Hardware Store," Finnick suggested.

Johanna glared at him. "It just so happens that I'd have to walk five miles to get there, and I _still_ don't have a car." She started to walk away.

Finnick didn't think about it much—he just acted on impulse. "I'll drive you, J."

She turned around and put one hand on her hip. "Are you serious, or are you being sarcastic again?"

"I'm serious."

"What about your girlfriend, Candy, or whatever her name is?"

"Johanna—" Finnick sighed. "I intend on her never knowing. Besides, I know how much you love your axes."

She gave him a sarcastic smile and lifted the axe back up onto the rack with the others. "I'm sad to say, you are correct."

So that's how Finnick ended up sitting in his car with Johanna, driving to Tracker Jacker Hardware Store, instead of buying cleaning supplies like a good little boy.

Because everybody knows that Finnick Odair is _not _a good little boy.

* * *

**Good? Bad? REVIEW GUYS! :)**

**Next chapter will be when everyone goes to PANEM HIGH! (Yay!) I've got a couple good ideas (like Cato will attempt to terrorize Clove and that will TOTALLY NOT WORK… ;) …)**

**How are the different points of views working out? I have to say, it's a LITTLE weird to write with multiple characters' personalities (when you have like a million characters to write about… thanks to Suzanne Collins!) but I'll manage.**

**I'd like some comments on some ideas, like the Tracker Jacker Hardware Store (idk it sounds kind of iffy but if you like it, so will I!) and that Cato had an abusive father and Marina's nickname (remember, Marina is the name I gave the girl from District 4).**

**Thanks to ClatoandFannie, courtneybuscus and storyfrikk for following, courtneybuscus for favoriting and 3PeetaAndKatniss3 for reviewing, plus the… currently… 33 viewers! YOU GUYS ARE GREAT!**

**Happy reading,**

**-Ibbonray**


	3. Chapter 3

"Rory! Rory!" Prim banged on the window of Gale's car, and Gale smiled to himself, unlocking the door so Rory could get out.

They were parked in the parking lot next to Panem High; Gale and Rory were sitting comfortably in Gale's truck. The first day always went like this—he dropped Posy off at the elementary school, then Vick and Rory at the middle school, but not this year. No, this year was Rory's freshman year, and Gale was slightly worried about him getting lost in the crowds until Primrose Everdeen had sought out their car.

Gale and climbed out one side, and Rory out the other. "Hi, Prim!" said Rory.

"Have you been inside yet? Have you gotten your schedule? I have mine, right here! Wait… you haven't? Come on, come on!" Prim said, dragging Rory away. Rory glanced at Gale, and Gale nodded, watching them disappear.

Prim seemed over-the-top excited, and Gale couldn't help but laugh as he trudged over to the mass of kids trying to enter through the large double-doors.

Turning to the schedule table, he spied Katniss in a corner. They'd been friends for a long time, and both enjoyed hunting—but lately, he had been having feelings for her. Though after a brief relationship, they both knew it wasn't going to work out.

Gale couldn't help loving her olive skin and dark, braided hair, though. And those eyes…

But he had Madge now, he reminded himself. Madge was good enough, and pretty, too. When Madge was in the room, Gale forgot about Katniss for a while, which he supposed was a pretty good thing.

"Hey, Catnip!" He yelled at her. He had a nickname for everyone. Vick was Vicky, Posy was his Little Princess, Rory was Roar, Madge was Madgie, and Katniss was Catnip. But out of all of those, Catnip was his favorite to say.

"Hi, Gale!" Katniss waved him over. "Got your schedule yet?"

"Nope."

"Better pick yours up soon… Madge will certainly go crazy if you can't compare schedules right away."

Gale laughed. That sounded exactly like Madge. "Hey, have you seen Roar and Prim yet?"

"No, have you?" Katniss asked.

"Right when I pulled up, there was little Primrose, banging on the window and shouting, 'Rory, Rory!' Then they ran off," he said.

Katniss laughed, scanning the crowd. "I don't see them," she said, then her eyes widened, and she whispered to Gale, "Madge alert! Madge alert!"

Gale looked to where Katniss was pointing, and there she was—Gale's one and only girlfriend, in a white dress with gold trim. It looked like more like a wedding gown than casual wear, but Madge was one for fashion, so this was what she normally wore to special occasions. Special occasions, meaning: birthday parties, the first day of school, and football games. (Those were the times that Gale was scared she was going to die from tripping over her high-heeled shoes.)

"I'm gone," Gale muttered to Katniss, and ran to the schedule table, hoping Madge hadn't picked up her schedule and wasn't seeking him out at the moment.

* * *

Finch looked around at her homeroom. She recognized almost everyone; there was Gloss, whom she had disliked ever since he made fun of her bright red hair (it was one of Finch's best features, she thought), and there was Annie (Finch wasn't fond of her because she was much to giggly, although Annie's green eyes were to die for). A couple other teenagers lounged around, only one of them being someone Finch didn't recognize.

The girl had dark hair put up in a long ponytail, with grey eyes and very pale skin. She seemed to be scowling at everything, but Finch walked up to her anyway.

"Finch. You new here?" Finch asked, sticking out her hand.

The girl swatted it away. "Yes, what does it mean to you, Ginger?"

Finch reeled back, angry. "Maybe I was just making conversation, hmm? Doesn't look like you'll be making any friends this year with that attitude."

"What about you, Ginger? You have any friends?" The girl said, eyes brightening with a cold, calculating stare. Finch had to admit, this girl gave her déjà vu—because Finch had felt herself perform that expression, many times.

Finch flushed, thinking about her past experience with friendship. It had failed, because Finch was an introvert, through and through.

"Just as I thought," said the girl. "Looks like we're alike, Ginger. Oh, by the way, I'm Clove."

Clove. That was her name. And how were they alike? Did she… oh. She wasn't the friend type either.

Finch nodded. "Acquaintances?"

"Whatever," said Clove, and Finch walked away.

Upon returning to her seat, their homeroom teacher walked in. The woman was decked out in a magenta dress, with magenta makeup, magenta jewelry, and, upon her white wig, the most giant magenta fake rose that Finch had ever set eyes on!

"_I_ am Miss Trinket!" Their homeroom teacher giggled, and Finch groaned. Great—another bubbly, sickening teacher. Last year Finch had Miss Amber Riverlace for chemistry and all the lady was ever interested in was making chemical reactions with any substance that was the color yellow!

"Now, class, we are going to have a great year together as an advisory team—and it will be an even better year with _me_ as your teacher! Now, first we'll have assigned seating. Let's see. Gloss! Hello, Gloss. Would you please sit here with, hmm… Krill! Yes, Krill, there you are. Go ahead and sit right there, you two. Now, who is next?"

Miss Trinket went on for a while, and then she called out Finch's name. "Finch! Finch, where are you?" She pointed to a seat in the middle of the room. "Take a seat with… Clove? Clove Saber?"

Finch's head snapped to look at Clove, but her face was emotionless as they sat next to each other. There they were, the intelligent and the vicious; the two acquaintances. What a great combination, Miss Trinket! Bravo!

This was going to be interesting. _Very_ interesting.

* * *

"Finnick!" Annie said, flinging her arms around him. "At least I have at least one class with you."

"Don't you remember, Ann? We have three hours together, plus lunch. Forgetful, aren't you?" Finnick teased. Annie loved the way his messy bronze hair made him seem so… so… she didn't know the word for it.

"Earth to the two of you," said Madge, waving her hand in front of Annie's face. "Be glad I'm in maths with you, or else I'm sure you will epically fail from spending the whole time staring at each other."

"Way to be the killjoy, Madgie," Annie said, playfully smacking her arm. "And I don't spend _that_ much time looking at Finnick."

"Yes," her boyfriend agreed. "You are implying that we gawk at each other the entire hour, while it's only a mere fifty-nine minutes."

Annie and Madge rolled their eyes at once, then took their seats as their maths teacher, Enobaria Goldfang, glided in through the doorway.

"Irresponsible!" She barked. "I am supposed to teach all of you and yet, you one: aren't in your seats and two: those of you who are, haven't even bothered to glance at the seating chart that has been projected on the board in front of your very eyes!"

Annie observed Mrs. Enobaria Goldfang, who had long, black hair that was so dark it looked purple, and… Annie wasn't lying… pointed teeth! It was almost as if her maths teacher was a vampire, although Annie supposed Principal Snow would never allow a mystical creature such as a vampire in their school.

Besides, vampires didn't even _exist._

She glanced up at the seating chart, and her heart dropped. Annie was seated far away from Finnick. But she did sit near Madge, which was a bonus.

"Now that you are all seated in your _proper _positions, would you please pass around this supply list around? Make sure each and every one of you have a copy. If you happen to forget any of these supplies on any particular day, I will have you buy me a tooth sharpener," Mrs. Goldfang threatened.

Annie leaned over to Madge and whispered, "There's such thing as a tooth sharpener?"

"Miss Cresta! Please relate to the class what you were whispering to Miss Undersee at once."

Annie stared around, shocked, and said, "I was wondering if there was such thing as a tooth sharpener."

Mrs. Goldfang advanced to Madge and Annie's desk. "Yes," she hissed. "There is such thing as a tooth sharpener. And, since you had to ask, I demand that you buy me one, Cresta. I recently purchased a tooth sharpener for myself, but I need a replacement—it is much too dull."

Nodding, Annie cowered under Enobaria's gaze. A tooth sharpener… where would she find a tooth sharpener?

But of course… when in doubt, go to Mockingjay's.

* * *

Rue glanced at her schedule, pleased to see that it was fourth hour—choir class!

Music was Rue's favorite thing in the world—besides her family and friends, of course. But sometimes, when she tired of her five other siblings (which happened quite often) singing would revive her.

There were some birds that always resided in the trees near her house that loved singing as much as she did… or so Rue thought, because when she sang the birds would fall silent, and call back to her. It comforted Rue to know the birds would always be there, repeating the tunes she would sing.

Rue had been looking forward to choir class, and she was not disappointed.

Mr. Everdeen was there when Rue entered the classroom, a wide, bright-colored space with musical notes decorating the walls and a piano set in one corner.

"Hello, class!" He said with a smile, and Rue looked around at the freshman participants of choir. A few she knew, but most she didn't. A girl with blonde hair pulled back in two plaits caught Rue's eye, and both girls smiled at each other, even though Rue wasn't sure what her name was.

"I welcome you all to the choir room. First, I'll call roll, and then I'd like you all to sing something for me so I can judge if you are soprano or alto."

Sing something? Rue wasn't one to sing in front of huge crowds, but she supposed she could work up the courage…

"Bonnie Airite!" Mr. Everdeen called, and a frail girl with deep brown eyes stood up, two seats away from Rue.

"Rue Arbound!" Rue raised a fleeting hand and then let it fall quickly.

Most of the other freshman didn't hold her attention, except for the girl with blonde hair and blue eyes who had smiled at her earlier. Her name was Primrose, and she was Mr. Everdeen's daughter.

"Now, I'd like you to sing something for me. I don't care if it's Happy Birthday, a love ballad, or a verse of some popular song you've heard… sing! Sing like you never have before. Now, Bonnie, would you sing something for me?"

Bonnie, the frail girl, stood up hesitantly, and sang a quick Happy Birthday song. She was slightly out of tune, but Rue smiled at her, anyway.

"Miss Airite, you did wonderful! You may sit down. Now, Rue, would you sing for me?"

Rue took a deep breath. _What song? What song?_ She finally decided on the song that she and her siblings had made up, a song she liked to sing often during chore time.

"I'm ready," she said, and then realized she said it aloud. "Oh, I was supposed to say that in my head!"

She blushed profusely but everyone laughed in an encouraging, shake-off-your-mistakes way, and Rue inhaled one more time, now confident.

"_Minutes turn to hours but our duties drive us on,_

_ Interruptions flutter by but throughout we must be strong,_

_ Tell us we don't matter that we will never belong,_

_ But this bond we have created, it shall last us past the dawn._

_ And our time it will be spent,_

_ Through hours oh so long,_

_ But we'll tell ourselves it's simple_

_ We will make it through this song,_

_ Together, forever, we'll be strong, yes, we'll be strong._

_ Together, forever, we'll be strong." _

Rue finished and looked up from her toes at the class. Everyone had fallen silent. Finally, Mr. Everdeen cleared his throat.

"I've never heard that song before, but it's beautiful."

"Oh," Rue blushed, looking back down at her feet. "We made it up, my siblings and I. Thank you."

Mr. Everdeen smiled at Rue, and told her, "You have true talent, Rue. Now, who's next?"

Rue sat back down, still blushing, but now with pride. This was going to be her favorite class; she knew it already.

After the bell rang, the girl, Primrose, came up to her. "You're really good," she said enthusiastically.

"So are you." Primrose had sung a love song that Rue had heard on the radio a couple times, but she couldn't remember exactly what it was called.

"Thank you!" Said Primrose. "Hey, what lunch period do you have?"

"Second," Rue smiled. "What about you?"

"Second, also! Want to sit by Rory and I at lunch?" She gestured to the boy she was sitting next to her in class. He had dark hair and grey eyes, and a lopsided, likeable smile. Rue hesitated for a second, then told Primrose yes.

Rue had made a new friend. Oh, this year was going to be fantastic.

* * *

Was this a prep school? Because Clove was sick and tired of all these… these… _Nice people!_

First, this morning, Finch had walked up to her and stuck out her hand. Clove could tell right-off that the ginger girl had no friends, by the manner that she considered herself better than everyone in the homeroom class, with the straightening of the back, upturned nose and whatnot. It was actually sort of scary how alike they were, mentally instead of physically, of course.

Acquaintances. Good enough for Clove. But Clove was waiting to see who the bad boys and girls of the school were—because those were normally the people she hung out with.

So far, no luck. The boy in maths was nice enough, and handled her comments pretty well—what was his name? Marble?—but he didn't seem to get any of the lesson and spent more time flicking her instead, which was positively annoying and Clove was _not_ interested in anyone who liked to spend their time giving their desk partners absolutely no personal space!

When lunch came around, Clove had no idea what to do. It seemed as if most of the freshmen had their own friend groups as well, and eventually found spots to sit at that seemed natural enough. And there was Clove. Sitting on the wall, friendless.

She took a quick glance around the lunch area. No Ginger. That meant no acquaintance. Which meant… no one to sit by. Clove sighed.

"Hey, never figured out your name, so want to sit by us, Dagger-Eyes-Girl?" Said somebody, poking her in the back.

Clove turned around to see… great. The boy from maths… oh, Marvel was his name. "What, are you here to test me to see if I qualify into your clique?" She said viciously.

"Watch the dagger eyes! They're stabbing me! And no, I am not in any 'clique', as you say. I am attempting to be… not friendly, you wouldn't like friendly. More _accommodating._"

Clove took one glance at Marvel's truthful expression and accepted the invitation. Whatever. She'd probably hate these people, anyway. But might as well give it a try—wouldn't want to look like a lonely little girl sitting alone, minding her own business.

When Marvel led her to a table filled with two girls and two other boys, Clove felt sick to her stomach. They all looked cheery, carefree, as if from a television show featuring perfect kids in a perfect high school. Marvel quickly introduced her to his… friends.

"Okay. This is Peeta, Finnick, Marina, and Annie. Annie here is Finnick's girlfriend, she's not exactly _great_ friends with the rest of us, but since Katniss and Madge aren't here… well… this is her permanent table."

He glanced at the girl with long, brown, curly hair and green eyes, and she said, "Marvel! I'm a good enough friend that you don't despise me like Cato over there," she said, pointing to a large boy on the other side of the cafeteria. He was sitting with a boy and two other girls, both blondes. Clove dismissed him and turned back to the others.

"And guys, this is…" Marvel continued, then stopped. "This is…"

"Clove Saber," Clove said stiffly.

"Clove!" Marvel finished. "Welcome to the group."

Clove crossed her arms. "Depends if you like me or not," she said, and sat down on the edge of the table.

The others struck up a conversation about the swim team… that, apparently, Marina, Annie, and Finnick were on, and then it switched to Marvel's supposed tutoring sessions.

"You actually _like_ Finch now?" Finnick gawked. "No-freaking-WAY! Tell me this is a joke," he looked at Peeta. "Please tell me this is a joke."

The boy, Peeta, shook his head and Clove said, "You talking about the Ginger?"

They all nodded. Marina asked, "You know her?"

"Just slightly," Clove said, and leaned back, taking them all in. They were an interesting group of people. Clove wasn't sure she liked them, but she decided to give them a chance.

Besides, for a girl like Clove, chances were a pretty nice thing to give.

* * *

Peeta entered the art room and took a deep breath, catching the scent of strong paint and thick, creamy paper the moment he stepped onto the thinly carpeted floor. This was like his second home; too bad this was the last year he'd get to spend here.

When Portia (she was the art teacher… and insisted that everyone call her by her first name) saw him, she walked over and gushed, "I'm so glad you've taken my class again this year, Peeta!"

Portia was an enthusiastic dresser, with dark skin and curly bleach-blonde hair, and she was on the younger side of the teachers in the school. Although she was a little odd, Peeta enjoyed her company all the same and Portia was a very good artist—he had to admit.

"Of course, Miss Portia." She guided him to a seat next to Marina. Peeta said, "hey," and she waved, replying. Then, after everyone was in his or her seats, Portia clapped her hands.

"All right, everyone! Welcome to art… seventh period, elective course! I'm your teacher, Miss Portia," she said in her familiar squeaky British accent. "Okay, I'll tap your desk and I would like you to tell me your name, please!"

Portia tapped her long, red nails in front of Madge. Peeta was wondering what was up with the dress. It looked like something to wear in a ballroom, a wedding, or maybe if you were prom queen. He wondered how in the world Madge was friends with Katniss, but I guess that was just the way of the world.

"Madge Undersee," said the girl, smiling at Portia. Peeta watched as Portia smiled back and moved on.

Finally, Portia reached Peeta's table.

"Marina Spindle."

"Cashmere." Peeta glanced at the girl... Cashmere, apparently. She was one of Cato's friends, and undoubtedly came to art class so she could just sit around and barely do anything.

"Peeta Mellark," said Peeta, and Portia smiled and continued on.

Finally, Portia gestured to a table at the front of the room, loaded with art supplies. "I want you all to pick out some supplies and make something for me. It can be anything!"

Peeta automatically reached for the paints and a canvas, and then he was in dreamland, painting away a small sailboat stuck in the middle of a rough sea.

* * *

Finally. School was _out._ And Cato had managed to exit the building with only English homework—easy, since it was only on how beautiful Miss Trinket was, but Cato had just tossed it aside. He'd rather spend time with Glimmer than a sheet of paper and a pen.

He slammed his locker and headed to the track. It was his routine to run a couple of laps each day… and lift weights. Had to keep up his strength, you know?

Cato passed by Brutus, the gym teacher, and they nodded tersely to each other. He had earned Brutus's respect as a freshman by tackling the gym teacher to the floor on Cato's first day.

The fresh air felt cool on Cato's face and he jogged to the track. Nothing could stop his elated feeling now.

Nothing except… there was another person on the track.

_Another_ person?

This person was a girl with dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. Cato watched in stunned silence as she sprinted a lap in under a minute, and was about to proceed to do another when Cato snapped out of it and marched over to her. The girl was small, and had to be a freshman. Cato had already made it very clear to the sophomores, juniors, and seniors that they were _not _allowed to come to the track after school or else they would get a beating.

Cato caught her by the arm and growled, "Go home, freshy."

The girl shrugged his arm off and glared at him. "Ooh, look, the big dog is marking his territory, not that _I _care."

"I could beat you to pieces, freshman."

"I seriously doubt that, since you've got the wrong title," said the girl. Cato was getting annoyed. Sure, he admired kids who stood their ground, but this one was putting up too much of a fight.

"Wrong title?" He said, grabbing her shoulders and backing her into the side of the school.

"Yes. I'm sure if you had any smarts in that empty head of yours, you'd know that I'm just as old as you."

What? She was a senior? "You're… a senior?"

"Yes, thank you for noticing," Senior Girl said sarcastically.

Cato cut her off by punching her in the eye. To his surprise, she didn't flinch, or blink… instead, Senior Girl smiled.

For a second, time froze, and then Cato felt himself hitting the ground, disoriented. Was he… was he pinned down on the ground by this tiny little thing, this mere girl?

Apparently, he was.

Her laced-up running boots were planted firmly on his shoulders, hands forcing his head to the ground. "So, you're the bad boy of Panem High? Nice to get to know you."

Cato was so stunned he couldn't say anything.

"Speechless, hmm?" She taunted. "Bet you aren't pinned down by a petite little girl every day, am I correct?"

Finally, he regained his thinking, and swept her legs from under her, bringing Senior Girl down and rolling on top of her in the grass.

"You're good," he said, "But not good enough. What's your name?"

"What's yours?" she said, sweetly, somehow getting on top of him again.

"Cato," Cato growled, and she jumped off him, dancing away so he wouldn't tackle her. This girl—he hated to think it, but she was _good._ "And you?"

"My name shouldn't matter to you, Baddie Boy," she said.

"It doesn't." But it _did._ Cato was fascinated with her. Where did she learn these fighting techniques? Where did Senior Girl come from?

"Good. Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to run a couple more laps."

"I run alone, girl." Cato said, crossing his arms.

"So do I. We can either deal with each other, or you leave."

Cato, of course, chose to deal with her. He wasn't going to be upshone by a girl a foot shorter than he was. It just didn't work like that!

At the same time as he was pissed, though, he was intrigued. Senior Girl was vicious, unmerciful, and could, as he observed, run faster than Cato could. He imagined them as friends, Cato giving her piggyback rides and Senior Girl whacking him in the back of the head. He even could imagine them _dating,_ but no, that would never happen.

Cato had Glimmer. He must be faithful to Glimmer. _Glimmer, Glimmer, Glimmer—must think about Glimmer!_

* * *

Brutus cackled. He watched as the kid, Cato, as he was pinned down by Clove, and then they eventually shared the track, her lapping him once. Cato was his best student, had been for three years—but something about this new girl, Clove, told him otherwise.

He had her in gym. She had sprinted around the track five times, and ran up to Brutus, saying, "Was that supposed to occupy us the entire period? Because I'm finished."

So obviously, Brutus had challenged her to a fight—and she had pinned him to the floor in an instant, much faster than Cato had. Clove was his favorite, now, and to see Cato as he dealt with her was highly amusing.

They'd be friends, eventually, Brutus could imagine it—but for now, he could enjoy their numerous fights as Clove got the best of Cato again and again.

* * *

**Well, well, well… First day of school! Now, I'm going to review what you just read. This will not be boring, I HOPE:**

**Madge= FASHION MANIAC!**

**Finch/Clove= BOTH ARE SMART SO THEY THINK ALIKE!**

**Clove IS NOW PART OF THE MARINA/MARVEL/PEETA/FINNICK/SORTA ANNIE FRIEND GROUP! (I know, in my other story, Clove said that they would never be friends, BUT maybe Clove was wrong, you never know!)**

**Enobaria owns tooth sharpeners (okay, I had to include the vampire teeth, and I have no idea if tooth sharpeners exist… but had to make up something, right?)**

**Portia= Art teacher**

**Effie Trinket= English teacher**

**Brutus= P.E. teacher**

**Mr. Everdeen= Music teacher**

**Cato/Clove= Hate each other for the most part BUT (this is for those Clato people!) Cato has this futuristic daydream about them being friends… note this is a FORESHADOWING!**

**Okay, let me talk about the Rue POV part, I want to note some things.**

**Bonnie is one of the rebels (remember Bonnie and Twill? From Catching Fire?) that escaped from District 8. She's a little younger than Katniss, so I presumed that she would be about freshman year… why not? Anyway, just noting who she is… I'm trying not to make up any characters.**

**I made up Rue's last name, though (Arbound). Arbor is a root word that means tree, and if you look in the thesaurus, bound means hop. So her last name means tree-hopper. Like it?**

**Finally, the song she sung is all my doing! :) Hope it's OK, it's about them doing chores but it means so much more than that… it sorta ties to the Games… :)**

**Please, read and review, I worked pretty hard on this chapter… CRITIQUES ARE WELCOME!**

**I apologize, this is a long author's note, but I wanted to include this stuff. :)**

**Thank you thank you thank you, everyone!**

**-Ibbonray**


	4. Chapter 4

Delly skipped home. She loved Panem City. It was so beautiful, with greenery everywhere and the ocean in the distance.

She'd had a great day at school. Although Delly didn't have a massive amount of friends, she was nice to everyone and was on good terms with Peeta Mellark. Yes, it was too bad that they didn't have lunch together, but a couple classes suited Delly just fine.

It amazed her how the smells of school could bring back so many good memories, and Delly was excited to find what memories this next year, senior year, would bring.

Soon she approached her house and entered into the air-conditioned hallway, saying, "I'm home, Mom!"

Her mother came from the kitchen and smiled at Delly with the wide smile that seemed to be in the Cartwright family's genes. Delly's mother looked just like Delly—they both had the massive grin and frizzy, short blonde hair.

"I'm making a cake for your brother's birthday. Would you like to join me?" Her mother said.

"Of course!" Delly's younger brother was an eight grader who loved everything about cakes. Delly wondered if Peeta's father would hire him one day as a worker in the Mellarks' bakery. It really was the perfect idea.

Delly entered the bright, sunny kitchen and her mother instructed her to make a batch of chocolate buttercream frosting. Yum. Delly couldn't wait to try out the cake… it sounded like it was going to be delicious.

If only Delly didn't have so much homework… but no! She wasn't going to let homework ruin her day. She'd finish it fast and then it would be time to go out for a walk.

Delly simply _loved_ walks.

* * *

Thresh groaned inwardly. Why couldn't he keep the red-haired girl from the ocean off his mind? It was like she was trying to pester him with her very existence. Thresh didn't like when people pestered him.

Marching from the school, backpack slung from one shoulder, Thresh hurried to get away from everything and everyone. He wished he wasn't so claustrophobic. Wherever this one single fear came from, it was annoying when it came to navigating through crowded hallways.

_Free at last,_ he thought as he finally reached an empty sidewalk on the way to his house. _Now what?_

Thresh mulled over his options. He was tired of going to the beach with Rue. Maybe he could go out to the city and climb a couple trees with his cousin. Rue had been teaching him, and though he was bad at it, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself when he pulled himself up onto a few branches without them breaking.

Or maybe he could seek out red-haired girl. It bothered him that he didn't know her name.

Then he second-guessed himself. _Seek out red-haired girl? I do not stalk girls in my grade. Shut up, brain._

What else? Thresh was stumped. There was never anything to do.

He reached his house and opened the door, deciding that the most interesting option was researching the red-haired girl.

Locating the old, worn computer situated in the back of the house, Thresh sat down and clicked on the search box. Hmm. He didn't know her name…

Thresh typed in the words, _Panem City red hair._

There were barely any images that popped up—most of them pictures of people standing at the beach with red hair. But there was one—Thresh looked closely, and saw the words _Finch Clevere._

Aha!

He typed _Finch Clevere, Panem City_ in the search box and tapped enter, and there were much more pictures than last time.

Thresh's eyes widened as he foundthat this girl, Finch Clevere was her name, had won the National Spelling Bee, the National Geography Bee, Student of the Year at Panem High (twice) and had gone to Nationals for running track, too. Finch was obviously the most intelligent girl in the grade, in the _school_ even, and she was pretty athletic, also.

Instantly, Thresh knew that she'd never even give him a second thought.

Then he felt bad because it was almost like he was stalking her by researching her.

He turned off the power of the computer and leaned back into the chair, sighing.

"I do not think she would like you if she found out you were researching her, Thresh," said a voice behind him, and Thresh whipped around to find his Grandmother, leaning heavily on her cane, smiling knowingly.

Thresh flushed behind his dark skin and shrugged.

"Have you talked to her?"

"No."

"Do you like her?" Grandmother drew out the 'I' in the word like.

"No!" Thresh said a little too quickly.

"I see." She gave him one more teasing smile and then hobbled out of the room. "I think she'd consider you as a friend, my Thresh!"

"No." And that was final.

The winner of the spelling bee, and the geography bee; the most intelligent being in the school; the runner and the girl with the bright red hair would never be Thresh's friend.

Because Thresh's only friend was Rue.

* * *

Johanna brought the axe down on the log.

_Curse you, Gloss._

This was always the best way to get her anger out.

_F*ck you, Gloss._

He was such an a**hole.

She raised her axe again and brought it down.

_Why why why?_

Johanna had such a crappy life. She'd been orphaned from a young age since her parents deposited her and her younger sister on the side of the road. Her first foster parents had been abusive and had been sent to jail resulting in Johanna's removal from the home; then her little sister Jamalia had been diagnosed with cancer and died; then she spent her life with numerous boyfriends including Finnick Odair and Cato Hadley until finally, she settled on Gloss. For one day only.

That was yesterday. Finnick had taken her to Tracker Jacker Hardware Store—Johanna couldn't shrug off the feeling that she'd have to repay the kindness sooner or later—then dropped her off at her house. Well, not really _her_ house, her newer foster parents' house. At least she knew her last name; Mason; or else she would have to go last name-less or take up Woof's surname.

Woof. Yeah, her foster dad was named Woof. Crazy, right?

Anyway, then Gloss called. "Want to go out with me?" He said.

Johanna had replied, "Is this a date or is this some random plan to use me, a**hole? I am not in the mood for any joke."

"It's not a joke, Jo."

"Don't call me Jo," Johanna had snapped, and then hung up on him.

So then he had picked her up and taken her to dinner; then afterward they had gone to his house and made out.

Then to arrive at school today an see Gloss making out with, of all people… Glimmer Rae! The torture! Did _every_ boy use Johanna as a play toy? It mad her angry—very, very, very very very angry.

Of course, now she felt bad for Cato. He had broken up with her for Glimmer, yes… and now Glimmer was cheating on him. This social network of a school was falling apart. But more for Johanna. Cato could handle all the rocky relationships the world had to offer.

Johanna really had to hand it to her axe. The tree-splitting tool was a lifesaver. And not that circular candy stuff. She meant that this was the only way that she could kill off all those rogue feelings.

She chopped one last log and smiled. Now it was time to go to her tae kwon do class. Tae kwon do wasn't really karate. It was more self-defense, which Johanna thought she needed to learn ever since her first boyfriend beat her up. Now, her hard work paid off—she was respected by everyone in her class and was a third-degree black belt.

Impressive, for seventeen years old.

Johanna raised the axe once more, imagined the log was Gloss, and brought the axe down. It chopped Gloss's imaginary head off.

Johanna gave herself a pat on the back.

* * *

Wiress was very proud of herself.

The first day of school had been a success. Wiress was the foreign language teacher at Panem High and one of the more interesting people there. For one, her husband, Beetee, was ALSO a teacher at Panem High (well, not really a teacher, more of a librarian who specialized in computers). Second, she had gone through this phase a couple years back where she said nothing but the words 'tick, tock'.

But the 'tick, tock's meant something. Wiress had developed her own language that for some reason only Beetee could understand.

Occasionally, Wiress would break into a round of 'tick tock's during class, in which all of her students would think she was wacky and insane. But not today! Nope! Wiress had restrained her tick tocks and now was the time to let them all out!

"TICK TOCK!" Wiress screamed as she drove home with Beetee in their silver pickup truck. _**Translation: **__I didn't say one tick tock in front of my classes today!_

"My wife, that's great!" Beetee replied and Wiress beamed.

"Tick tock tick tock?" She asked him. _**Translation: **__Anyone you recognize from last year?_ Wiress had recognized many—the girl, Finch, who was very intelligent, and the boy, Cato, a complete a**hole, (whom Wiress held a grudge fon or putting a pin on her chair last year,) among them.

"Plenty. That Annie girl, she got on one of the computers, and I know I shouldn't have spied on her… but, really? She was looking up tooth sharpeners! Probably Enobaria's threatening got to her," Beetee chuckles. And, of course, Wiress agreed with a hearty, "tick tock!"

If Beetee didn't understand her tick tock language, she'd probably feel all alone in this big world of regular humans. But he understood everything about Wiress—and that, of course, was why she married him!

And that called for a humungous TICK TOCK!

* * *

Marvel hopped up and down as his phone rung for an agonizingly looooooong time.

"Pick up pick up pick up!" He muttered. Finally, she did.

"What, Marvel?" Asked Marina

"You are planning a first day of school party with me!"

"Umm, when is this so called party?" She said hesitantly. But Marvel didn't care! This was one of his best ideas ever! Better yet, the teachers let him off of tutoring today! (Even though, Marvel was secretly a little disappointed.)

"In two hours, party, at my place. You're going to help me plan it. And, 'Rina, you're not getting out of this one. You're going to be here in fifteen minutes, we'll call everyone we know, and then go to Mockingjay's for groceries. It's gonna be great!"

Marina groaned at the other end of the line, but Marvel didn't care.

"I'll give you chocolate," he promised. Marina was very fond of chocolate. He knew.

A moment's pause.

"I'LL BE THERE!" Marina shouted into the phone so loud Marvel's ears rung a full minute afterward.

"Uhh—great?" He said, laughing slightly at Marina's enthusiasm. "How come you're so easy to bribe?"

She seemingly ignored his question. "See you in fifteen minutes." Then Marina hung up and Marvel smiled like a little kid at Christmas.

There was going to be a party at his place! An official SCHOOL HAS STARTED PARTY! And now he had to get Marina chocolate!

Marvel's grin slipped from his face.

Uh-oh.

Chocolate.

He didn't have any.

A little nagging voice was in the back of his head, saying, _you can't get a chocolate bar from the store and then return home in fifteen minutes._

But Marvel ignored it. Because, when in doubt…

Go to Mockingjay's!

The crazy grin on his face returned as he pulled a set of keys out from his pocket and raced to his car.

* * *

Katniss lay on her back on her bed, yawning.

The first day of school always left her tired to death, for no obvious reason.

Her eyes drifted shut, slowly… slowly…

_Brrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiing! Brrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiing!_

Katniss' phone rang.

She picked it up and the caller ID said it was Annie.

"What?" Katniss muttered.

"OMG! Finnick just invited me! Marvel's hosting a first day of school party at his place, and you know the whole place is beeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaauuuuuuuuuuutiiiiiiiiiiiifuuuuuu uuulllllllllll! You _need_ to come!"

A party? Katniss just wanted to sleep!

"No," she said.

"Come on!" Annie whined. "Peeta's going to be there!"

Peeta? Nobody cared about… wait…

"Peeta's going to be there?" Katniss said, sitting straight up on her mattress. "Well, of course he is, because he's best friends with Marvel."

"Yes, yes!"

"What time's the party?"

"I think… in an hour." Katniss glanced at the clock. So, the party was at 6:30. Simple enough.

"Oh, whatever, you've convinced me," Katniss groaned. "I'm awake, ready to go…"

"I know you have like, zero dresses, so why not come over to my place and we can prep?" Annie sounded gleeful.

"Whatever. On my way." Katniss sighed. Annie was way too eager when it came to parties. Katniss didn't like going to all of them, but… Peeta…

She didn't have a car, but she did have a bike. Katniss pulled on her tennis shoes and snatched her purse from her bedside table and raced to her garage, telling her family that she was going to a party on her way out.

"Have fun!" Her dad called to her and Katniss shouted her thanks back at him.

Katniss's bike was plain black—nothing much to look at—but it got her around, and that was all that mattered. Annie's house wasn't _too_ far away, so that was a good thing.

The kickstand was up, her feet on the pedals, and Katniss was on her way to a makeover.

Thing was—(she sighed)—Katniss didn't really like makeovers.

Oh well.

* * *

Glimmer had heard there was going to be a party.

A party!

A P-A-R-T-Y!

It really annoyed Glimmer how nobody had thought to invite her. I mean, Glimmer Rae went to ALL parties. To her, parties were like what a church was to a super duper dedicated religious worshipper. Meaning, she had to go to all parties.

Nobody had invited Glimmer—but she had heard about it.

And how was that, you ask?

Obviously… she had bugged Katniss's phone!

There was a reason behind it. Two years ago, Glimmer took an archery class at the PCRC (Panem City Recreation Center). Katniss did too. And when Glimmer found out that Katniss may have been the teeniest bit better than her—(well, maybe a bit more than teeny)—Glimmer had challenged Katniss to a bulls-eye contest.

The rules were that you got ten arrows and had to shoot them at targets from fifty feet away, and whoever got the most bulls-eyes would have won.

So, of course, Katniss had accepted. And Glimmer, how sneaky of her, had cut off a fletching from each arrow Katniss would shoot.

Well, Katniss noticed. Glimmer could tell. And Katniss did nothing.

Except— Glimmer got one bulls-eye.

And Katniss got f*cking TEN!

How could it have been possible?

So that was why Glimmer had bugged Katniss's phone. Because nobody beats Glimmer. And nobody can possibly shoot ten arrows and get ten bulls eyes! Katniss must have rigged the bow or—or—something!

Why, you ask, did Glimmer decide, out of everything, to bug Katniss's phone?

Well. She could explain. All Katniss had to do was say something juicy. And then, Glimmer would use her gossip talents to spread rumors about Katniss all around the school. Revenge was sweet. But so far, Katniss had not said anything juicy. At all!

Although, word of this first-day-of-school party had turned out to be useful.

Glimmer called up Cato and asked him to be her date to the party. Well, _duh,_ they were already dating, but Cato probably didn't know anything about the party either! And Glimmer didn't like going to parties alone!

Then, she searched her wardrobe for the shortest dress she could find—that would show a lot of cleavage, of course. Cato liked that kind of outfit. Heck, every boy liked that kind of outfit. And Glimmer was blessed with this body, so why not show it off?

After picking out a black, super-short cocktail dress with a plunging neckline, Glimmer did her hair up in a sophisticated bun (this took a long while—as her hair was thick and it took a while to find the correct amount of hairpins needed for the hairdo) and applied makeup with a heavy hand, using a light foundation, smoky eye shadow, voluminous mascara and ruby-red lipstick. All this was topped off with glittery lipstick, glittery eye shadow, glittery mascara, glittery blush, and, of course, she dusted her face with a pinch of glitter from a jar.

She eyed herself in the mirror, and, satisfied, struck a few poses. Then she glanced at her fingernails, and the clock. The clock said that it was—oh no!—6:22. The party started at 6:30, and Cato would be here any minute… and yet she just _had_ to paint her fingernails! What was she going to do?

Oh well, you could make a better entrance when you came late to a party, right? Glimmer shrugged and pulled out her huge fingernail polish bag and chose a glittery black polish. She removed the other color that existed—a salmon pink—and hastily re-painted her nails. That would have to do.

Blowing on her fingernails, she slipped into the black strappy shoes she wore yesterday and chose a cheetah-print purse from her collection, racing down to the front door and calling to her mom, who was in the kitchen.

"I'm going to a party, Mommy!"

"But, Glimmer!" Her mother gasped from the other room. "It is a _school_ night!"

"I won't be out that late, Mommy! May I please go? Pleeeeease?" Glimmer popped her head around the corner into the kitchen, where her mother was baking up a storm. Glimmer gave her puppy-eyes, which she knew would make her mother melt.

"Oh, okay, you may go. But don't stay out past twelve!"

"I won't, Mommy! I won't! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Glimmer flashed her mother a smile and skipped down the drive, where Cato sat impatiently in his car.

"Where were you?" He asked. "I've been waiting five minutes! We should be there already!"

"Cay-Cay, you can make a better entrance when you're late!" She batted her eyelashes, showing off her glittery makeup.

"Okay, okay, okay. You got me. Come on in, Glim!"

They shared a minute-long kiss (in which some rather inappropriate touching was involved) and then Glimmer smiled triumphantly as Cato drove to Marvel's house.

Glimmer didn't want to _crash_ the party—oh, no—but there was a chance that she might.

_What was more fun than crashing a party? _She wondered.

_Making out with Cato at a party. And maybe Gloss will be there—I can make out with him too._

This was going to be great.

* * *

**So. Guys, you're going to hate me. I haven't updated in FOREVA.**

**(Foreva isn't a word. I know. It's just fun to say.)**

**Well, guess what. I had this poll up. It asked, "Should I delete Innovation, keep Innovation, or delete Innovation and post later on on Fanfiction?" Well, turns out the people of Fanficion chose for me to keep it… and I thought to myself, 'I am a horrible author, not posting for about a month and a half!', so here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed.**

**Character review (I really like doing these. For some reason):**

**Delly loves everything.**

**Thresh, is, yes, I have to admit, a TEENY WEENY BIT stalkerish.**

**Johanna is a messed-up, strong girl who is orphaned, whose sister died, and whose one-dayer boyfriend two-timed her. Poor girl. :(**

**Wiress is still getting over her tick-tock obsession/syndrome type thingy. :D**

**Marina loves chocolate.**

**Marvel loves planning parties.**

**Katniss doesn't really like parties.**

**Glimmer LOVES parties, is a Katniss-stalker, is very slutty-ish, and is thinking about crashing this party, PLUS is two-timing Cato for Gloss… oooh. Drama!**

**IF YOU WANT TO HEAR MORE FROM A CHARACTER, PM ME THE CHARACTER YOU WANT TO HEAR MORE ABOUT AND WHY!**

**I WILL TAKE IDEAS FROM ANYONE IF THEY HAVE THEM!**

**Now, we have a BUNCH of favoriters and followers and reviewers so I'm gonna list them all here:**

**Followers: AutumnWillow18, CatchingFire75, ClatoandFannie, Em74, Emmy98, Hanelli, Meganium-Connie, SilverOdair, SkylarkOfTheMoon, TGPH, courtneybuscus, Idanielle, and storyfrikk.**

**Favoriters: AutumnWillow18, CatchingFire75, Em74, Hanelli, Meganium-Connie, courtneybuscus, and Idanielle.**

**Reviewers: Rebeccavampire, Meganium-Connie, AutumnWillow18, Idanielle, Em74, 3PeetaAndKatniss3, akcanine, and the two Guests! :D**

**Sorry for the long author's note.**

**Sorry for the long wait.**

**Sorry for everything… except… THE NEW CHAPTER!**

**Hate it? Love it? Review! CRITICIZM IS SO TOTALLY WELCOME! :D**

**Again, so sorry. :(**

**Ibbonray**


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